Sinners Welcome



And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.  Mark 5:15

Early in ministry, our church seemed to have more young people than anything else.  Sometimes our congregation was criticized because we had gang members and unchurched people.  My late husband, Superintendent Lamar Kennedy was not phased by the mocking or judgment.  He used to tell us, "If you don't have some folks from the street, then you don't have a church. You got a social club!"  Today that might offend some people, but the truth is, the church is supposed to be a hospital.  It's supposed to be the place where people come to be healed, delivered, and set free.  Well, how can that happen if everyone in the church is perfect?  Whose sins did Jesus die for if everyone is sinless already?

Jesus told us to go and bring in the sinner.  We have become so pious that we look down our noses at the young man with his pants sagging.  We don't realize that there's a story behind his pain.  He didn't wake up one day and banging was his dream.  He lived through many nightmares that caused him to need a family.  He suffered at the hands of people around him who failed to keep him safe. Perhaps he was pushed aside in school because he was too disruptive.  What if his acting out was a cry for help? Maybe when he couldn't find anyone at home to hear him, he looked in the streets. Did anyone tell him that he could be anything he wanted in life?

What about the young girl in church that now has a baby? How did she end up like this? Didn't she know better?   Maybe she allowed her body to be used because she never felt loved.  Perhaps she had been told she was too dark, too fat, too slow to ever have value.  Instead of understanding her story, we punish her in the church.  We don't want her singing in the choir, but she wants to praise God.  She wants to thank God for not leaving her like the boy did.  We don't want her mingling in with other youth.  Did having a baby make her a leper?  We fail to realize that Jesus cleansed the lepers.

Let's not forget the alcoholic trying to drown his sorrows or the prostitute trying to feed her family.  I'm not making excuses for anyone's actions.  It's not my place to judge how they got to where they are, but it is my responsibility to get them to Jesus.  We can't go to church Sunday after Sunday only concerned with our four and no more.  We can't say we love God and hate each other.  If only the perfect were allowed to attend church, the buildings would be empty.  Everyone would be at the social club.

Out of our congregation came amazing parents and anointed ministers, elders, evangelists, and pastors.  They are successful productive members of their communities.  Most importantly, they love God and they're saved!

We serve a mighty God.  No one is beyond his reach or his love.  He's still pulling people out of the tombs! He did it for us one day!

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  John 3:16

And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. Luke 14:23

Reaching the lost at any cost,
Pastor Odie Kennedy

Featured Photo by Cathy Kaplan

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